Taylor Swift threatens to sue blogger over critical 'kkk' article

Taylor Swift threatened to sue a blogger for defamation and the ACLU came to the writer’s defense. (John Salangsang/John Salangsang/Invision/AP)

Taylor Swift sure gives a damn about her "Reputation."

The pop star and her legal team threatened to sue a blogger who posted a critical article on the implications of Swift's political silence — and the ACLU stepped in in the blogger's defense.

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Meghan Herning, an editor at the website PopFront, was hit with a letter from Swift's lawyer, William Briggs, on Oct. 25.

Briggs took issue with an article Herning wrote in early September titled "Swiftly to the alt-right: Taylor subtly gets the lower case kkk in formation," which explored the ways in which Swift's reluctance to publicly denounce white supremacy have won her alt-right fans.

Briggs, who threatened a lawsuit, demanded Herning take down the story and issue a retraction, as he claimed her post was "provably false and defamatory" and appeared to be a "malicious attack against Ms. Swift that goes to great lengths to portray Ms. Swift as some sort of white supremacist figurehead."

He also claimed that Swift did, in fact, denounce white supremacy, but that Herning was not allowed to make that statement public because of copyright laws.

On Monday, Briggs received a letter of his own from the ACLU, which claimed that Herning's piece is based on opinion, and is therefore protected under the First Amendment.

"Intimidation tactics like these are unacceptable," ACLU attorney Matt Cagle said in a statement. "Not in her wildest dreams can Ms. Swift use copyright law to suppress this exposure of a threat to constitutionally protected speech."

Added Herning in a statement: "The press should not be bullied by high-paid lawyers or frightened into submission by legal jargon. These scare tactics may have worked for Taylor in the past, but I am not backing down."

The writer later told Refinery29 that she believed Swift's attack on her piece was deliberate, as PopFront is a small, lesser-known outlet that "can't really fight back" because it lacks a general counsel like more established, mainstream publications.

Swift's first new album in three years, "Reputation," is out Friday. Save for an upcoming appearance on "Saturday Night Live," the high-profile singer has largely bypassed a typical press tour, and has remained out of the spotlight.